You’re confused, right? Boris Johnson just lost a Supreme Court case and what the heck happens with Brexit? You’re right to be confused, everyone over here is too. What actually happened is the U.K. version of Marbury v. Madison.

That’s the case where the United States Supreme Court said that the U.S. Supreme Court gets to say what the law actually is with respect to the Constitution. The U.K. has only had a Supreme Court since 2009 and the law only passed in 2005. Really what this case, nominally about proroguing Parliament (i.e., when should it close down for a bit then start a new session), is about is who is top dog? The executive, legislature, or court? Given that the answer came from the court, as with Marbury, the answer was the court. It came in the same sort of timescale as in the U.S. as well. The Constitution took effect in 1789 and Marbury v. Madison in 1803 isn’t all that different from the U.K. Supreme Court’s timeline.